You're invited to
An Evening to Belong
Join us for our end of year get-together; a chance to connect, share and belong.
We're excited for 'An Evening to Belong' and even more so with an exciting programme for the evening ahead. We'll share some highlights of the year, our findings from our COVID and migrants research, and #PassTheMic to our special guest speakers sharing their story.
Eric Chuah Bio
Eric is an ex-banker, Ipoh foodie, multi-lingual and worked extensively across Australia, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and came to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2013.
After 15 years of banking career, Eric decided to pursue his passion in business with purpose. He met Graeme at a social enterprise speaking engagement and together they established The Cookie Project in June 2018 that provides meaningful employment to Kiwis with disabilities and pays them a descent wage of $18.90 an hour. The Cookie Project received 12 awards and recognition in the first 17 months and was named the recipient of 2019 Attitude ACC Employer Award. During COVID-19, The Cookie Project faced some very tough challenges and pivoted to make extraordinary comeback and they’re now proudly baking at their new home Eden Park. Eric is a firm believer that social enterprise is the future to transform the nation’s economy and tackle urgent social issues in New Zealand – something that all of us as migrant should be encouraged to do in our new home country.
Parveen Shankar Bio
Parveen lost his vision in a car accident in 2004, when he was just 23 years old, but that hasn’t stopped him in the slightest. Eric and Graeme met Parveen who was working as a Guide Waiter at Dans Le Noir - Dining in the Dark. When they heard about Parveen’s aspiration to become a blind baker, they offered him a chance to bake and Parveen has been shining brightly like a diamond ever since. Parveen is a also great sportsman in multiple blind sports, he has represented New Zealand with the NZ BLINDCAPS in multiple Blind Cricket tours around the world. When we’re in the kitchen, Parveen always shares little pearls of wisdom to perk us up. Parveen looks forward to sharing his migrant story and disability journey.